Reforming dual candidacy: Recommendations to the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee on the Draft Wales Bill (2013)

The Wales Bill should be amended to transfer powers over the conduct of NAW elections to the National Assembly

Providing evidence to the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee on the Draft Wales Bill, Professor Roger Scully has asserted that the Wales Bill should be amended to transfer powers over the conduct of NAW elections to the National Assembly. In addition, to prevent any possibility of manipulation of the electoral rules by any one party, he recommends that the Bill should also provide for a ‘super-majority’ requirement for any change to the current law, with a three-quarters majority of all NAW members needed to approve any changes. Professor Scully argues that this would prevent any single party from changing the electoral system to suit its own interests, stating that:

“a three-quarters majority would also have prevented the 2007-11 Labour-Plaid coalition from changing the electoral system without the support of at least one other party.”